NH’s building code update lacks stronger efficiency provisions

BUILDINGS: In New Hampshire, a bill on the governor’s desk would update much of the state’s building code except for its energy efficiency provisions, leaving those at an earlier standard because of claims that home costs would rise. (NHPR)

ALSO:

• Although still low relative to other states, home insurance rates in Maine may rise as much as 19% by the end of the year due in part to climate impacts like sea level rise and harsher storms. (Maine Monitor)
• New York passes new regulations requiring the use of lower-emission concrete in government projects, like roads and airports. (Yale Climate Connections)

WIND: As developers wait to learn the results of a multi-state offshore wind project solicitation, one developer strikes up memoranda of understanding with two Connecticut businesses for their services during construction. (The Day)

GRID:

• Avangrid notes in Maine state filings that construction of its 1.2 GW New England Clean Energy Connect power line has made a lot of progress in the past year, after a lengthy pause while its fate was decided in the courts and at ballot boxes. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• In Maine, the governor’s energy office is leading a study to understand whether switching to a locally led grid operator would cut costs. (Portland Press Herald)
• Two Northeast colleges and several partners will take $2.63 million worth of grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to improve the region’s grid resilience through analytics and modeling. (news release)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• A new database published by Boston University finds that environmental justice communities are three times more likely to have fossil fuel-related infrastructure than others. (Boston Globe)
• A Wyoming startup selects its first Pennsylvania waste coal-to-fuel site, where it plans to turn 8 million tons of waste coal into synthetic aviation fuel and extract rare earth elements in the process. (news release)

NUCLEAR: Constellation Energy acknowledges amid speculation that it’s possible to restart unit 1 at Three Mile Island but that no decisions have been made. (WTAE)

SOLAR:

• A Vermont town committee debates how much to regulate solar projects as it outlines preferred site locations. (Valley News)
• A community solar aggregator partners with the city of Niagara Falls, New York, to increase project subscriptions among local low- and moderate-income households. (news release)
• Maine grants almost $100,000 to a community power cooperative to help expand the number of cooperatively owned community solar projects by teaching residents about their benefits. (news release)
• A family-owned alcohol winery and distillery on Cape Cod installs enough solar panels on its warehouse to generate over 61,000 kWh of electricity every year. (news release)

POLICY:

• Massachusetts’ governor creates a new energy transformation advisory panel to help steer the office of energy transformation — itself a recent creation — to decarbonize the state in a reasonable and affordable way. (Associated Press)
• Some Northeast cities — like Buffalo, New York, and Burlington, Vermont — are billing themselves as climate-safe havens, but some observers question how far that claim can be taken in promoting the locales. (BBC)

WORKFORCE: A $2 million federal grant will help a Maryland community development agency help expand the state’s energy efficiency workforce to make more upgrades at low-income households. (news release)